Villa Kunkler

Former convent of the Capuchin friars and now private property, it is also known as Villa Byron, in honor of the famous English poet George Gordon Byron who stayed here. However, he was not the only illustrious guest to reside here: the villa rented by Byron was indeed inhabited for a period, between 1817 and 1818, by Percy Shelley, his wife Mary, and Byron's wife, Claire Clermont. A plaque mounted next to the entrance commemorates Shelley's stay, during which he wrote the masterpieces "Julian and Maddalo," the first act of the lyrical drama "Prometheus Unbound," and the poem "Verses Written Among the Euganean Hills." After the mid-1800s, the complex was purchased by the Swiss-origin Kunkler family. Built around 1870 in a typical architectural style of the alpine area, it immediately impresses with its singular façade of the stables – which can also be noted from the outside – commissioned by Baron Kunkler: the wooden structures are a refined work by the cadorinian Valentino Panciera, known as "Basarel," a highly skilled wood sculptor who had a workshop in Venice. The Villa, on the other hand, has the volumes arranged in a "U" shape around a courtyard. The park surrounding it is of particular value.